Johnathan Corgan wrote:
I am currently using ISDN from my home in San Jose. You're right in that the startup costs are the barrier--even a cheap single B channel (56K) terminal adapter for use with a serial port will run $300-$400 dollars. The telco charges are minimal in my area; $25 monthly for the line itself (115 Kbps async bandwidth). Connect charges are free for non peak usage, and $0.60/hour for peak usage time (0800 to 1700) Mon-Fri.
Well, let's do the math. Since the remailer has to be connected at all times, of course, this implies $162 a month in connect charges, over and above the other charges. Or $187 a month including the line charge. Or $2244 a year. This makes a "cheap Linux box" almost a moot point. This is a lot more than I'm willing to pay to run a remailer. (I can imagine workarounds that involve connecting at regular intervals to pick up mail....assuming it "accumulates" somewhere (?), but the goal of a remailer "on the Net" is what I'm after.)
A remailer in this scenario would need to have their MX record point to their ISP, and process mail via POP (incoming) and SMTP (outgoing). It would be straightforward to implement a timed or demand dial scenario (say, every fifteen minutes) to accomplish this. While not the ideal (continuous internet connection with pure SMTP based mail transport), it would suffice for a moderately loaded remailer, I'd imagine.
Of course, this involves the mail subsystem of your ISP, partially defeating the purpose of having ubiquitous anonymous remailer "instances" whose operation is outside the control of an ISP. Still, it would be a good start.
I agree that it's something to look at. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. Cypherpunks list: majordomo@toad.com with body message of only: subscribe cypherpunks. FAQ available at ftp.netcom.com in pub/tc/tcmay